Food scientist: Taste for salt can be moderated

May 23, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Robert I-San Lin, 78, holds a container of salt as he talks about the harm too much salt can do to the body. "Chronic excessive consumption of salt induces or aggravates hypertension in addition to forcing the body to have extra weight," he said. Lin once worked as the chief scientist for Frito-Lay. Today the Irvine scientist is raising caution over the damaging health effects of high salt levels in prepared and snack foods. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Robert I-San Lin once worked as the chief scientist for Frito-Lay. Today the Irvine scientist is raising caution over the damaging health effects of high salt levels in prepared and snack foods. "The most important thing for consumers is to read the label, particularly the sodium content. Modern food contains too much salt, far more than needed," he said. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Robert I-San Lin, 78, once worked as the chief scientist for Frito-Lay. Today the Irvine scientist is raising caution over the damaging health effects of high salt levels in prepared and snack foods. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Irvine scientist Robert I-San Lin is sometimes called the "father of phytochemical." He says he coined the term in this 1994 article published in a book titled "Functional Foods." Phytochemicals are minute plant nutrients that are highly active and often beneficial. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Robert I-San Lin, 78, once worked as the chief scientist for Frito-Lay. Today the Irvine scientist is raising caution over the damaging health effects of high salt levels in prepared and snack foods. "The most important thing for consumers is to read the label, particularly the sodium content. Modern food contains too much salt, far more than needed," he said. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 7

Robert I-San Lin once worked as the chief scientist for Frito-Lay. Today the Irvine scientist is raising caution over the damaging health effects of high salt levels in prepared and snack foods. "The most important thing for consumers is to read the label, particularly the sodium content. Modern food contains too much salt, far more than needed," he said. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 7

Robert I-San Lin holds a container of salt as he talks about the harm too much salt can do to the body. "Chronic excessive consumption of salt induces or aggravates hypertension in addition to forcing the body to have extra weight," he said. Lin once worked as the chief scientist for Frito-Lay. Today the Irvine scientist is raising caution over the damaging health effects of high salt levels in prepared and snack foods. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Robert I-San Lin, 78, holds a container of salt as he talks about the harm too much salt can do to the body. "Chronic excessive consumption of salt induces or aggravates hypertension in addition to forcing the body to have extra weight," he said. Lin once worked as the chief scientist for Frito-Lay. Today the Irvine scientist is raising caution over the damaging health effects of high salt levels in prepared and snack foods.JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Excessive sodium increases health risks

The American Heart Association says too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart disease. In some people, sodium increases blood pressure because it holds excess fluid in the body, creating an added burden on the heart. The group says too much sodium can increase risk for stroke, heart failure, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and kidney disease.

The average American consumes 3,400 mg of sodium per day – equivalent to about 11/2 teaspoons of salt, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Dietary guidelines recommend limiting sodium intake to 2,300 mg daily. But the recommendation is even lower for about half of Americans. People over 50, African Americans and those with hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease should consume no more than 1,500 mg per day.

Robert I-San Lin spent nearly eight years as chief scientist for Frito-Lay, where he used theories of quantum mechanics in an attempt to reduce the amount of sodium in chips without increasing cost or losing the salty taste.

His effort failed.

"Every step, I think about the consumer," Lin said. "I think about corporate responsibility. We are all under the pressure that we've got to make a bottom line. If we reduce the sodium and our sales come down, profit is wiped out."

He illustrates the challenge with two bags of Frito-Lay potato chips on his dining room table. In this informal scientific experiment, he has pitted Ruffles against Lays Lightly Salted.

"Lightly Salted is a great improvement," he says, while examining the label.

Then he tears open each bag for a crunchy bite.

"I like the Ruffles," he says. "I would buy this one. I like the taste."

Why not the potato chips with half the salt?

"Lack of flavor sensation," he replies.

Thirty years after Lin left Frito-Lay and moved to Irvine to work for a health food company, his concerns about salt are featured in the new book "Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us," by New York Times journalist Michael Moss. The book draws parallels between the processed food industry and Big Tobacco.

"We are not aiming to get people addicted to the chip, but rather say, 'That stuff's real tasty,'" he said.

Still, he had misgivings when he worked from the company from 1975 to 1982, particularly when the company helped stop a consumer campaign to regulate salt in the food industry.

"They don't like government intrusion into the industry," he said. "Today it begins with salt; tomorrow it's sugar."

Lin does say that if all food companies were to cut the amount of salt in food, Americans would change their taste preferences and companies would not be left at a competitive disadvantage.

"When a person gets used to high salt, you need more," Lin said. "In that respect, it's not different from alcohol or even nicotine."

A serving of about 12 Ruffles contains 7 percent of the daily recommended amount of sodium. The Lightly Salted Lays contain 4 percent.

On a Frito Lay nutritional website, the company says it offers a wide variety of snacks that can fit into a "healthier lifestyle" and that chips contain "less sodium than you think."

"Chips taste salty because the salt is on the surface, giving the tongue a burst of flavor," the website says. "In other foods, such as many crackers and cereals, salt is baked in, so the salty taste is often hidden. For example, a one-ounce serving of Lay's Classic potato chips has about the same amount of sodium as a slice of white bread."

Lin, a father of four, was born in China and moved to the U.S. in his 20s. He takes pride in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. He serves as an associate editor of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

He said that 10 years ago he lectured at an anti-aging conference in Bali, where he included in his presentation a photo taken that morning of himself in a Speedo. He said he still has a 31-inch waist and a six-pack, not much different from his days as a UCLA graduate student.

Lin said he was taken aback that Moss contacted him so long after he left Texas-based Frito-Lay.

"What surprised me was the urgency of the reporter," Lin said. "The day after, he wanted to come out. He came on a Friday evening and I spent the weekend with him."

In the book, Moss describes Lin's eating habits as devoid of processed food.

"For lunch, he served plain oatmeal, with no sugar added, and raw asparagus. It was pretty stark eating for someone like me, who has been known to detour a vacation to visit a potato chip factory open to tourists."

As for all those chips on his table?

"I bought the big package," Lin said. "My wife said it will take four months to finish."

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